Stars in the Night
by TwoTearsInABucket
Summary: They had always been best friends, and that was all it could ever be. Or was it? Life likes to get complicated sometimes, as the two would soon find out. SoulStar fluff because I caved to my own popular demand. TW: Bullying. I'll update if tw's change.
1. On the Roof

**Authors Notes**

 **This should be fun. Never enough StarSoul.**

 **I'm not even gonna try to predict my update schedule but I'm shooting for shorter chapters than I'm used to, so probably updates will be much easier on me.**

 **This fic gonna be fluffy afff ;33333333**

 **Also yaoi warning -XXX- ;p**

* * *

"Patty, no! Not again!"

Patty giggled and threw a forkful of spaghetti across the table, the glob landing directly on Liz's fresh white blouse.

"I just fucking bought that yesterday!"

"White doesn't suit you, sis! Heeheee!"

"Kid, I told you! We can't give her wine yet, she's not old enough!"

Kid was trying not to pay attention to the two, preferring to sit silently chewing. Black Star grabbed the spaghetti off Liz's blouse and gobbled it down before she could react. Soul couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Liz, this stuff tastes great! Ask her to toss some more over!"

Liz stood up and stomped out of the room. Soul heard the bathroom door close and the sink turn on. Kid took the opportunity, and stood up.

"Patty, you should really stop."

Patty giggled again, grabbing a fistful of spaghetti and tossed it up in the air. It got hooked on an arm of the chandelier, the added weight setting it off-kilter; Kid's face turned a pale green and he ran to join Liz in the bathroom.

"Yay! Spaghetti party!"

Tsubaki kept silent. Maka looked to be trying to stifle a laugh that could burst her lungs at any second.

The spaghetti slipped off the chandelier and landed in Patty's hair, coating it in a layer of red sauce and meat chunks. Maka burst out in shrieking laughter, pounding her fist on the table so hard it made ripples in Soul's glass of water.

Soul stared into the water. Kid had invited everybody over to Gallows Manor for the weekend before classes started, and it was already getting far out of hand. He wondered if they'd all still be alive by the first day of class. Or more importantly, how he would ever explain that Patty had been the cause of death.

The bathroom door opened, and Liz and Kid came back to the table. Kid breathed out a sigh of relief upon seeing the chandelier back on center, then turned to address the room.

"Liz and I have decided to go to bed early. The rest of you can stay up to do whatever you like."

Patty looked at them without the slightest shred of guilt. "Aww, but I'll miss you guys! Are you sure?"

Liz gave her a faint smile. "I'll see ya tomorrow, sis." And with that, they turned and headed for the stairs.

* * *

"Soul, is it okay if I take a shower?"

Soul looked over. Maka was in her bathrobe, peeking out the bathroom door.

"Sure, go for it."

The door closed. Soul turned back to his suitcase, looking for his pajamas. He still hadn't unpacked, as they were only staying at Kid's place for a few more days. Still, Maka had insisted on emptying her own suitcase completely, and her clothes now spread out over the entire guest room: shirts on the bed, pants on the floor, bras on the dresser. How the two would find anywhere to sleep was still anyone's guess.

He was torn from his thoughts by a tapping on the window. There, looking in, was Black Star. Grinning like usual.

Soul went over to the window and unlocked it. Black Star pushed open the sash and climbed in. "Hey, so you got a tower room too! Nice!"

He hadn't considered it, but actually the room probably was in a tower; it was round and relatively small. "Yeah, the views are nice. I guess Kid was feeling generous."

"Come on, I wanna show you something." Black Star walked over and climbed out the window, turning to beckon Soul to follow. Soul moved to the window and looked out: the tower peeked out of the roof, and the window opened right out on to the shingles. He climbed out and immediately felt the cool rush of the nighttime air. It was dark out, but an open window nearby let light out to illuminate the shingles. _That must be Black Star and Tsubaki's room._

He looked over and saw Black Star laying on the shingles, hands behind his head. Soul did the same, grunting slightly. "So what was it you wanted to show me?"

Black Star pointed out into the sky. "Look, it's that one star thingy. The guy with the belt."

"Lame."

"Hey!"

Soul chuckled. "Relax, I was joking." The two lay there in silence, watching the sky. Soul's eyes were adjusting to the darkness. He could make out dark clouds moving in front of the stars. The moon stared down from on high, grinning that same creepy grin. Below, the streets of Death City, here and there a streetlight, a cat, someone making their way home from a late shift at work. And off to the side, Shibusen, looming like a dark fortress. In a couple days, they'd have to go there every day and listen to Stein drone on for hours on end, about mundane things like dissections. Nobody said anything, but Soul doubted anyone was looking forward to it. Except Maka, he thought with a smile.

"Hey, Soul."

"Yeah?"

"You think Tsubaki's been happy lately?"

Soul furrowed his brow. "I don't know, have you two soul synced lately?"

"Not really."

"Try it. See what she's thinking, maybe she misses it."

"Yeah-" Black Star trailed off.

Soul didn't know what exactly to say. He wasn't very close to Tsubaki, but he'd always loved giving Black Star advice when something was wrong between them. Seeing them make up, seeing their resonance pick back up, it satisfied him on some level. At least, that's what he thought it was.

"Soul?"

"Hm?"

"You know you're my best friend, right?"

"I guess so, yeah."

"And I can tell you anything?"

Soul paused for a second. Black Star was acting strange, like he had a topic in mind but didn't know how to bring it up. "Yeah, probably."

Black Star took a deep breath and waited a second to speak. "It feels wrong to say this, kind of, but," his voice lowered,

" _Sometimes I_ _wonder if_ _we_ _could be partners,_ _weapon and meister_ _."_

Soul took a minute to take in the weight of the statement. It sounded almost like a confession, something they weren't allowed to actually think.

He sighed. "We're just not compatible, Black Star."

"I know. I just..."

Soul adjusted himself on the shingles. "That test was a disaster. We just don't work. The way we think is too different."

"But we get along so well! And I know we're different, but it just seems like-"

"Our minds don't sync. It's as simple as that. You're being dumb."

Black Star seemed ready to say something, but decided against it and lay his head back down. "Yeah, I guess."

A silence once again took over. Clouds continued to pass overhead. Soul found himself reliving memories of back when they were kids. Sid would take Black Star, just a kid with a tuft of blue hair, out on the porch, Soul waiting out in the yard. Black Star's eyes would light up, and he'd run down the stairs and tackle Soul to the ground. The two would play in that yard for hours, sometimes far into the night until Sid decided it was too dark for them to be out. It was dangerous to walk home at night, so Sid would call Soul's parents and they'd arrange an impromptu sleepover. They'd stay up into the early hours of the morning, telling ghost stories under the blankets with a flashlight, talking about girls they had crushes on, making mean jokes about teachers, until they fell asleep. The next morning was always waffles with strawberries.

Soul looked over to Black Star. He had his eyes cast to the stars, mouth open slightly, staring. It was hard to deny the boy was his best friend. As much time as he'd spent training with Maka, there was some sort of bond between them, a bond Soul sometimes wondered if he would ever be able to make with another person. Sometimes, the thought seemed impossible.

Maka got out of the shower. She opened the bathroom door and let a cloud of steam out into the bedroom. A slight chill crossed her wet hair, and she turned to see the window was open. _What on earth.._

She moved to the window and saw Soul and Black Star pointing at stars, laughing. She rolled her eyes. "You guys are gonna slip and die out there!" They just laughed even harder.

"And by the way, that's Orion!"

Black Star sat up. "No, it's Soul! Don't you have eyes?" Soul laughed so hard he began sliding down the shingles. Black Star reached down and caught him by the collar.

Maka rolled her eyes and walked back to the bathroom. _Those two can be so dumb…._


	2. In the Grass

**Author's Note: Woo! I'm loving writing this sooomuchhh! We'll see soon where this is going, I'm excited :0**

* * *

Shibusen was a castle with many secrets. It was easy to get lost, which was exactly what had happened, though today it was less because of the twisting corridors and more because of a certain assassin's disregard for reality.

"Just follow me! I know the way to class like the back of my hand!"

"Black Star, you don't even know the way to the bathroom. I'm finding my own way." said Liz. She branched off down a side hall, followed by Kid and Patty.

"Hey! I told you, the door was locked! That wasn't my fault.." Black Star trailed off in defeat, but not before bouncing right back. He turned to the others. "I'm gonna get you guys to class if it's the last thing I do!"

Maka piped up. "Well I guess you know that the classroom is right up this flight of stairs, then, right?"

Black Star whipped his head around to the staircase in question. "Of course! Everybody knows that!" He took the stairs by three, quickly disappearing out of sight.

Maka shook her head. "Everyone follow me, it's actually downstairs." Tsubaki sighed.

* * *

The classroom was full of chatter; it was the first day, and everybody was eager to meet the new students, find out who the professor was, catch up on summer memories.

Soul, Maka, and Tsubaki filed into the room and managed to find some empty seats. They sat down, and immediately the murmurs coming from the seats behind seemed to change tone, lowering to whipers. Soul and Maka exchanged skeptical glances, and with a few swift eye movements they made an unspoken agreement to listen to what the people were saying. It sounded like two girls.

"I heard he's really proficient, got a great record before that witch soul thing-"

"But then why _her?_ "

"Because she was a witch! Don't you know how this works?"

"No, I mean..."

"Oh, that. Who knows, she doesn't seem all that special from what I've heard. I wish he would pick me instead! I'd wield him so well he wouldn't know what hit him."

Soul was watching Maka. Her face was red, as if she was about to explode.

He spoke up at full volume. "Hey, Maka, I heard there's these two really ugly girls in this class who don't like you. Did you hear about them?"

The red slightly drained from Maka's face. She let out a breath and forced a smile. "Well, they're probably just jealous I landed such a good-looking scythe as my weapon. He'd never go for ugly girls." The tone of her voice dripped with acid.

The row behind them had gone completely silent. Maka's face let on a slight grin, though it was obvious she was trying to hide it. Soul loved seeing that side of her; it wasn't often she let it out.

A bang alerted the room, as the door opened and in walked Professor Stein. Maka let out a relieved breath; she'd told Soul before that one of her worst fears was being stuck in a class with Spirit as her instructor.

Stein adjusted his glasses. "Class, I'm here to inform you that your professor, Spirit, will be late today. That is all." With that, he left the room.

The banging sound, Soul realized, was not from the door closing, but Maka hitting her forehead on the desk. "If I", she muttered, "have to spend an entire semester listening to my father coo about my cuteness..."

Soul patted her on the back. "Just be glad he won't fail you. I doubt he'd ever change _my_ grades."

"Hey, if you're insinuating for even a second that I don't earn my A's-"

Soul snorted. He looked over at Tsubaki, who had been sitting silently, smiling, the entire time. "Hey, Tsu, whatcha dreaming about over there?"

The girl looked to be interrupted from her reverie. "Oh, just imagining all the clubs to join. I think Black Star will be joining a few as well."

Soul didn't have a chance to respond, as the class went silent. Spirit had just entered.

"Hello, class, and welcome back from your Summer Break! I'll be your professor this semester, so you'd better get used to it while it's fresh."

"See, Maka? Nothing to worry-"

"And you might all be interested to know, my beautiful daughter is in this class! Maka, stand up so everyone can see you!"

Maka stood up. She whispered to Soul, "If I have to go through this one more time, I think I'll ask you to cut me in half and eat my soul after class."

Spirit was not finished. "Maka, you know daddy loves you!"

"Actually, Soul, right now would work just as well."

* * *

The seven of them all went out to have a picnic on the grounds after class. Kid marveled at the symmetry of Shibusen, like he always did, while Black Star chewed them out for sending him on a wild goose chase. Tsubaki again remained silent, only shooting Black Star a look every few minutes during his rambling.

Liz had brought peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, of which Soul ate far more than his share. Tsubaki brought a salad, which nobody really touched except Maka. To finish off, Patty had baked a small cake in her easy-bake oven. It wasn't very good but nobody really cared; everybody took a small piece until it was gone.

"So Tsubaki, which of the clubs were you thinking of joining?" Soul asked through a mouthful of cake.

Tsubaki smiled. "Oh, probably the calligraphy club, or the poetry club. Have you given it any thought yourself?"

Soul scrambled to find some sort of excuse for not knowing any clubs. "Uhh- clubs are just so uncool." Patty appeared to be the only one to buy it.

"Well, I know what club I'm going to" said Black Star. The others all looked up from their cake. A silence followed, in which Black Star kept his eyes closed with a smug look on his face.

Liz decided she'd had enough. "Well what is it?!"

"You guys'll just have to wait and see."

Liz snorted. "See if we ever help you find the bathroom again."

"Hey! I told you, it was locked!"

Kid spoke up. "Everybody calm down. If Black Star's really in a club, I'll just ask my father to let me access the club records and find which one he's in."

The smug look remained on Black Star's face. "Oh, no, you won't. 'Cause my club's not registered."

Maka coughed on her cake. "But that's not allowed! You have to register your club, or you won't get any sponsorships, any oversight, anything!"

Black Star rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Maka, that's the _point_. How nerd can you get?"

Annoyance flashed through Maka's eyes, if only for a moment. "Fine. But I'm gonna report you if I think you're getting in bad business, got it?"

"Well, good luck finding it."

"I'll use my soul sense."

"Our first meeting's tonight. I dare ya."

Tsubaki once again spoke up. "Am I allowed to come see, Black Star?"

The grin crossed his face again. "Only the toughest guys are allowed in. That's why I get to go. And nobody else." He shot soul a wink.

Kid raised his eyes. "So does that mean me and Soul are allowed?

"Pshhhh, naw. You're in with the establishment. Also, Soul's a scrawny weakling."

"Hey!" Soul snapped, and launched himself at Black Star. The two began wrestling around, knocking over their drink glasses and crunching the picnic basket to smithereens.

"Soul! Black Star! You should stop fighting, you're making a mess." Tsubaki's plea fell on deaf ears as they continued to scuffle. Patty and Liz watched intently.

Black Star made a decisive move and pinned Soul to the ground. A grin of victory spread over his face as he stared down at Soul. "See? I'm stronger. Hah. Nobody can defeat me!" Soul wriggled underneath him but succeeded only in getting grass in his hair. Maka face-palmed and finished her cake.

Black Star hunched over and cupped his hand to Soul's ear.

 _"Meet me by the back steps tonight at 10."_

 _"_ Aww, look, Black Star's finally confessing his feelings!" Patty giggled.

Black Star immediately straightened and hopped off Soul. "Yeah right! Soul's a guy, are you stupid?" He began chasing Patty around the yard, Patty shrieking in laughter.

Soul continued laying in the grass, listening to the shrieks and watching the clouds pass overhead. Tonight would definitely be interesting.

"Soul, you gonna finish that sandwich?"


	3. In the Arena

**AN: Hey! Sorry for the week long break, I think that's gonna be standard from here on out. We'll see. Usually with writing, either I love it or hate it. There is no inbetween. It usually takes multiple false starts before a chapter really falls together and I start to love it. Plus I have lots of homework.**

 **Anyways, yeah, I'm kinda taking this fic in some unusual directions. You will see what I mean :o**

* * *

The clicking of a pencil, incessantly. Maka clicked it open, closed, open, before smiling and writing the answer down. "Soul, I figured out number 5."

"Good for you, I'm still on number 3."

The sun was rapidly setting, and Maka had the lights on to help read. The two of them sat at the living room table, poring over their books, trying in vain to glean some sort of meaning from the numbers. Maka seemed to be the only one having any success.

"Oi, Maka. What did you get for number 4?"

"7.2 Radians."

"And number 5?"

"93 degrees."

"And 6?"

Maka frowned. "You're gonna fail tomorrow if you don't actually do the problems."

"We'll see about that." Soul slammed his book shut. "I'm going out for some fresh air."

"Soul, do you think I'm stupid?"

Her face showed a slight glare. "I know you're just going to see Black Star and Tsubaki. You always do this when you're bored."

The chair creaked as Soul sat down again. "Am not. Quit trying to be such a smartass."

Maka sighed. "The answer to 6 is '2 radians'. Now do number 7 on your own."

"Fine." Soul pushed his pencil idly across the paper, hoping Maka would think it looked like he was working. She seemed to fall for it.

At least an hour passed, and Soul was still stuck on question number 7. He looked up, and saw Maka still diligently working on her assignment. Her pencil stopped.

"Finally! All done. I'm gonna be getting ready for bed." She got up and went down the hall.

Soul heard the bathroom door click. He looked at the clock. Half an hour late. Cursing, he got up, put on a jacket, and left, closing the door gently behind him.

* * *

Soul walked down behind Shibusen. The walls of buildings in Death City were bleak, almost as bleak as the residents. Twists and turns lead to more twists, more turns, more dead-ends, an endlessly confusing city of towers and cliffs. He wondered sometimes how people ever managed to navigate such a place.

A sound made him stop. He whirled around, but there was nothing. Nothing but a damp alleyway. Squinting, he made his way onward.

The sound came again. This time from in front of him.

"Hey. Who's there?"

No response came. Only the drops of water could be heard.

A shadow flashed. Soul's muscles locked for a second before he felt a blunt pain in his neck. Next thing he knew, he was on the ground, a puddle soaking through his shirt. He could see multiple pairs of boots standing around him.

"What's a guy like you doing around here, huh?" The voice came gruff.

Soul tried to get up, but a heavy boot stood on his back. "Don't even think about it."

"I was going to see some sort of club."

"Oh, so you wanted to see the fight club?"

Soul furrowed his brow. "I don't know. I was just going to meet up with Black Star and we were gonna head over."

One of the people standing in front of him crouched down to his level. It was a girl, wearing a leather jacket and a black beanie. "So you know Black Star, huh?"

Soul grimaced and gave a slight nod.

The girl dropped her frown and stood back up. "John, get off him. I think we could take him anyways."

The boot removed itself, and Soul stood up, water running down his chest. His jeans were drenched too, he noticed.

The people surrounding him almost looked like they could be in a biker gang: guys, girls, all dressed in dark jeans and jackets, all of varying heights but one thing in common- they looked angry about something.

The girl in the beanie patted him on the back. "Sorry about that. We don't usually take on Black Star's friends, he's got decent taste most of the time."

Someone behind him snorted.

"I said _most_ of the time, John."

"Well, if by most you mean _never-"_

"Come on, guys, let's head over, fight's starting in like ten minutes. Black Star's probably there already."

The group headed down the alley, Soul following. Maybe it would be okay to just meet Black Star there. He wasn't even sure what to make of this group; he'd never met a gang like them before, surprisingly. They seemed to be okay with a comfortable silence, he noticed. They walked almost perfectly in sync, though it didn't seem like they were trying.

"So, how do you guys know Black Star?"

One of the guys in a green beanie scoffed. "Through the fights. That's how anybone knows anyone around here. I don't take it you fight?"

"I'm a weapon, so yeah."

The group laughed. "If you call that fighting, then you're in for a real treat tonight."

Soul was having trouble fighting a nagging feeling in his gut, a feeling Black Star had a side of himself he didn't show to the rest of the group. Not to mention a second group of friends..

"You ever tell us your name, kid?"

Soul bared his teeth slightly. "Soul Eater. Yours?"

"You don't know who we are?"

There was an awkward silence.

"You gotta be kidding me. Geez, you said you're friends with Black Star?"

The group was starting to give him looks. "Uh, yeah. We know each other."

"Well, he's gotta have something on his mind to take you to a fight, not even knowing an elite team like ourselves."

"Something like dope" one of them chimed in.

The girl spoke up again. "You guys are assholes."

"Hell yeah, we are, how you think we came this far? Riding on your purse?"

The girl shot him a deathly glare before turning back to Soul. "I'm Dythe, by the way. I know you must be wondering" she added in a suggestive tone.

"Don't flatter yourself, nobody thinks that."

"Fuck you! Coming from that ugly mug, I'd think you're just jealous!"

"Yeah? Meet me after the game, I'll screw you up so bad you'll _wish_ you looked like this!"

The rest of their argument was difficult to hear over the ensuing laughter. Soul tuned it out. The group eventually arrived at a black door in the alley wall. Dythe knocked, and a peephole slid open.

"Password?"

"BitchesGetBloody"

The peephole closed and the door swung open into a dark tunnel. Dythe lead the way in, down the hall and around some corners until the passage opened out onto an underground arena. The seats were arranged in rings around the central pit, above which hung a large scoreboard. A fight appeared to be going on: two guys were duking it out in the very center, not even wearing gloves. The room reeked of old gym equipment, and reverberated with throngs of shouting fanboys, with what looked like a few fangirls mixed in.

"So, Soul, this is really your first time down here?" Dythe asked.

Soul nodded, looking around with wide eyes. "It's huge."

"You're cute. This place is a cramped old dump. But we do what we can.." she gestured around, and started down the risers. "Come on, I'll find us some seats."

John knocked Soul on the back. "Dythe never calls people cute. You better watch your back."

Soul nodded in understanding, noting how much taller John was, and followed down the risers. The group settled down in the third row, sitting shoulder to shoulder. Soul was wedged directly between John and the guy in the green cap, who's name Soul didn't know yet.

It was as if the guy read his mind. "Hey, my name's Dylan. Ya wanna smoke?" Dylan fished a pack of cigs out of his pocket. Soul had only smoked once before, but in this unfamiliar environment it was hard to say no.

"I'll take one, sure." Dylan obliged and handed him a cigarette. "Need a light?"

"Sure. Thanks."

Soul put it in his mouth, and Dylan fished out his lighter and started it going. Soul took a drag. Something tasted strange.

"Rolled 'em myself. I think you'll like 'em, ya know what I mean?"

The feeling hit him a couple minutes later. His brain felt fogged up, and the world started to tilt. His head felt like it was resting on a cloud.

"Haha, dude, you're so gone! Guys, look!"

"Oh, god, Dylan, I told you to stop that!" Dythe's voice sounded irritated, but again was quickly drowned out by the laughing of the others.

"He's done! I told you to stop making them so strong, Dyl" one of them laughed.

"Yeah, well ya know what I did? I doubled the dose! He's gonna have a real fun time tonight!"

Soul could barely comprehend the words he was hearing. The entire auditorium was left as a dull rumble; he could barely focus on the pit.

"Dude, look! It's Black Star! He's up, guys!"

Soul heard Black Star's name and his attention picked up. He tried with all his effort to make his eyes focus on the pit. Even with a slight blur, the faint outline of blue hair was unmistakable, walking down into the arena.

"Go! Go! Go! Come on, Black Star! You can do it!" Dythe could be heard screeching at the top of her lungs. Either that or it was John. It was hard to tell.

The adversary had deep red hair, as far as Soul could make out. A voice came up over the intercom. "Match 8! Black Star, versus RedVenom!"

A bell dinged.

The next few minutes were a long blur, people cheering, Dylan shouting, Dythe screaming, John patting Dythe on the back and repeating everything she shouted. The rest of the arena transformed into an endless sea of spectators, waving their foam hands and spilling popcorn. The roar was deafening, almost more than Soul could take in. He groaned and held his head.

Dylan shook him by the shoulder. "Hey, man, you take too strong a hit?"

"F- Fuck you."

"Well, see if I even give you another. That stuff's expensive!"

Soul wasn't even paying attention. His vision faded to black.


End file.
